Always
by bluecoffeemondays
Summary: Her sacrifice was legendary. Her son was the Savior of the Wizarding World as we know it. But all heroes have to have their start somewhere. Before she was Lily Potter, mother of the Chosen One, she was Lily Evans, a Hogwarts student, nemesis of James Potter, best friend of Severus Snape, and sister of Petunia Evans, and her simple childhood promise will shape everyone's future.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Lily Evans Potter watched the 1 year old zipping around on that blasted toy Sirius had gifted him. However, it did seem to amuse both her son and her husband, and it took a lot for anybody to smile these days. The few stolen moments of joy and peace were just the calm before a storm, and nobody but she knew better than to be fooled into a false sense of security.

She wondered if she had known all that was to come on that fateful birthday ten years ago, if she had chosen the life that she had. She had sacrificed much along the way, and at redemption, had very little to be thankful for. A rueful smile tugged at her lips as she watched her son, hoping for the time when all was well again.

 _Did it seem too much to ask?_ Lily hoped not. She had made many unforgivable mistakes in her life, and caused more than one death to invade her conscience. Death of a friendship. Death of a friend. In the end, they were both the same. Promises broken, secrets betrayed, and an ache in her heart that longed for a time when things were simpler, when conflicts were resolved with an apology and a hug.

And when she and James had a long overdue visit with Death, as she threw herself over her son, to protect him from that monster who murdered her husband and ruined her best friend, she thought of a promise, forgotten, but never broken.

 _Always._


	2. Chapter One: A Walk in the Park

Chapter One: A Walk in the Park

"Tuney, c'mon!" Lily tugged on her sister's frock, her two copper plaits bouncing wildly. "You promised you would!" Her older sister sighed dramatically, straightening invisible creases in her skirt.

"I don't know, I have an awful lot of work to do after you tore through Mummy's garden," Petunia smirked in more of a teasing way then anything. Her provocation had the intended effect, and her baby sister scowled.

"I did _not._ I was trying to help you," Lily stomped her foot on the wood floor, leaving scuff marks.

Her sister snorted. "That explains the jungle. How'd you do it, anyway? One minute it wasn't there; the next it wasn't. It was just like magic," she frowned, remembering the strange labyrinth of plants that exploded, undergrowth popping from the frozen solid late October. ground, and the exotic animals that followed. Wherever Lily planted her foot, lush greenery shot up, making the dull winter gray atmosphere much lovelier.

Whatever Lily seemed to do… Petunia had kept a close watch on her sister ever since she walked into their bedroom and found Lily floating a few feet above her mattress. She told herself it was out of concern, but as they grew older, Lily's… whatever it was… seemed to get more refined, more powerful, with a constant trail of flowers popping up in her wake wherever they went, disappearing after a few seconds. She seemed to be able to communicate with animals, and had a strange habit of making things stay in the air longer than they were supposed to. Petunia had to admit, it had caused her the slightest bit of envy when Lily skipped up to her mother with a big bouquet of flowers for her, and Petunia had only managed to find a couple of hardy weeds.

Lily shrugged, not bothered in the slightest. "Dunno. Maybe I have a green thumb," she grinned wickedly. "The pranks we could play on daddy… make him lose his mind about a forrest in his office…" Tuney giggled, her jealous thoughts forgotten.

"Girls, are you going to the park or not?" their mother called, coming to meet them in a flour coated apron. "Perhaps by the time the lot of you get back, we can have some treats." Lily need no further encouraging. Jamming a boot on each foot, she kissed her mother, and dragged her more reluctant sister out the door.

They walked in comfortable silence- or rather, skipped in Lily's case. Petunia sniffed disdainfully and said she was much too mature for such childish behavior, but did look for frogs along the way, as they walked beside a creek.

"Too early for frogs, anyway," she reassured her slightly crestfallen sister. A nagging thought came back to her. "How d'you do it?"

"Do what?" Lily asked, absentmindedly kicking pebbles, the telltale sign of daisies cropping up behind them.

" _That,_ " Tuney pointed at the flowers. "Why can't I do it?" Lily frowned at the trail of daisies, a look of uncharacteristic concern fleeting over her face. Then gone, just as fast. She shrugged, cheerful again.

"Maybe you're secret power is something else. Oh! Like arithmetic. You're very good at that. And all your other studies, as well," Lily nodded, as if this confirmed her sister's special skill. Petunia refrained from pointing out that flying and flower making were very different from math problems.

Still, as she quietly watched her baby sister running around on the old play structure, a wildflowers racing after her, she couldn't help but nurse a slightly wounded pride, and grudge, against her only sibling- and best friend in the world. Her eyes followed Lily over to the swing set, where she climbed on, and began to swing higher and higher. Petunia's built-in overprotective older sister drive kicked in, and she watched in horror as the little girl went higher than should be possible. "Lily, knock it off!" She ran to the swing set, but her sister only laughed her off.

"Tuney, I'm fine! See?" No sooner had the ill-fated words come from her mouth had the swing released her, and Lily flew through the air, screaming, and Petunia gaped in stunned terror as her sister slammed into the asphalt, face first. She went as still as a statue, and Tuney raced to her side.

"Lily! Lily, get up," Petunia was nearly in tears, shaking her sister, who had begun to shake. Expecting the worst, she flipped her over. "Lily?"

Her sister roared with laughter, oblivious to the gashes on her face and arms. "Tuney, did you see that? That was amazing! I was like a bird. I was flying, Tuney. _Flying._ " Still chortling, Lily sat up. "Tuney?" she asked nervously as her sister's lip began to tremble.

"Are you mad? You could have _died_. It's not funny, and don't you dare do it again," Petunia snapped, standing up and brusquely pulling Lily to her feet. "Don't you ever do that-that _magic_ thing again, d'you hear? It's dangerous." Then she turned heel, and stalked off, trying to conceal how shaken she was. She ignored Lily's shouts to wait and ran on ahead.

She fumbled for her key at their small cottage, taking two tries to unlock it. Slamming the door open, she stormed past a confused Mr. Evans, and right up to her mother. "Mummy, you wouldn't _believe_ what Lily did." She snatched a cooling cookie of the rack.

Her mother eyed her apprehensively. "What's the matter, Petunia dear?" she frowned. "Where is your sister? You haven't left her at the park, have you?"

Her oldest daughter snorted. "As if. Lily's on her way. And I'm sure she'll be so excited to tell you how she laughed off almost _dying_." She ignored her mum's gasp, and took a large bite out of the cookie.

" _Died_? Petunia, what on earth happened?"

Tuney sniffed disdainfully. "Your daughter decided to try her hand at flying, this fine December-"

"Petunia!"

"I'm getting there. She jumped out of her swing when she knew it was too high, and now she's went on and injured herself, the poor dear. I expect she should be home any minute."

Just as she said it, the door slammed open again, followed by wailing. Her mother shot her a sharp look, then dashed off to tend to her youngest daughter.

As it would be, there was very little to tend to. Most of Lily's cuts and bruises had faded, and as far as Petunia could tell, all that her mother was doing was fussing over Lily while Lily cried. A little bit of guilt tugged at Petunia, and she made up her mind to go apologize; after all, it hadn't been entirely Lily's fault, but as soon as she approached her, her usually cheerful sister gave her a cool look and a cold shoulder for the rest of the night.

The two sister's relationship only deteriorated from there. Petunia overheard Lily and her friends talking about her in less the savory way, and had rushed home from school early, her heartbroken by the betrayal of her sister. They maintained a cool relationship after that, and Lily, much to her sister's frustration had _not_ stopped using her powers, but had, in fact, began to practice them, and try new things, to Petunia's outrage.

Towards the beginning of January, Mrs. Evans, worried about Petunia and Lily, pulled the former aside, and told the girl to try and mend their friendship, at least for the sake of Lily's birthday. "Eleven is, afterall," her mother reminded her, "a very special birthday. Why don't you take her to the park for a bit?"

Petunia reluctantly agreed, only on the basis that Lily wouldn't be permitted to try any of her tricks, _particularly,_ anything over a meter off the ground. Lily sullenly agreed, and the two girls bundled up.

They walked in stony silence. Finally, Lily spoke up. "I don't suppose this is all about the stupid flower thing, is it?" Petunia gave her a sharp, almost unnerving look.

"It's not right, Lily. Plus, it almost killed you." she glanced back and not to her surprise, the usual trail of flowers followed her sister's footsteps.

Lily scoffed. "How could flowers hurt anybody? Don't you think it's neat?" she sounded almost hurt. Petunia sneered, a twinge of jealousy mixing in with a fear for what these talents of her sister could mean for Lily.

"It's not normal."

"Sure it is."

"For you, maybe. For _normal_ people, it's not." Lily whipped around, her green eyes flashing with hurt. Petunia regretted it instantly. "Lily, I just want you to be safe. What if it gets out of control?"

Lily frowned at the ground. "I hadn't thought about that." Petunia used this to press forward.

"Just… just be careful, alright? Just don't try to do anything, at least for today?"

Lily sighed. "I guess."

Petunia nearly cried from happiness. To her relief and cautious hope, their day at the park went smoothly, perfectly normal, and was almost like what it used to be. That is, until her sister began to get restless.

They were on the fateful swing set, and having a rather friendly conversation, both girls pumping their legs to gain higher altitude. "Tuney, bet you 5 pounds I can go higher," Lily smiled mischievously at her sister. Petunia narrowed her eyes, suspiciously. "No flying, I swear," Lily sighed.

"Just this once," Petunia said doubtfully. She knew at once she made a mistake. Lily let out a gleeful whoop and began to swing backward and forward, higher and higher. Petunia's face dawned in realization. "Lily, don't do it," she shrieked, but watched in horror as her sister let out a peal of laughter and let go of the swing, going higher then she had before. Petunia's shrill scream pierced the air and could only watch, petrified, as Lily flew through the air, and after what seemed to be ages, landed on the ground with the precision and grace of a bird.

"Mummy told you not to!" Petunia snarled in frustration as her words were thoroughly ignored, and ground her heels on the asphalt to stop herself, and stormed after her sister.

"Mummy said you weren't allowed, Lily!" she snapped, hands on hips, glaring at her sister in disgust. Lily turned around, her green eyes widening in the picture of innocence.

"But I'm fine," she giggled, bending down and plucking a flower that had blossomed in her wake. "Tuney, look at this. Watch what I can do." Petunia cast a nervous glance around them, fearful for what would happen if somebody caught her sister. Then, can't standing it, she came closer, curious to see what her sister could do.

Lily opened her hand. The daisy she had picked began to unbloom itself, if that was possible, then blossomed again, then shrunk again, and again and again. Petunia watched in horror. "Stop it!" she finally yelled. Her sister looked at her in surprise.

"It's not hurting you," Lily's voice was soft, but nonetheless, she tossed the flower to the ground, where it vanished. Petunia's narrowing eyes followed it, reluctantly impressed.

"It's not right," she reminded her younger sister. She paused. "How do you do it?" she finally asked, her jealousy finally getting the better of her. Lily opened her mouth.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" a boy, their age or possibly younger jumped out of the bushes, from where he had been hiding. Petunia screamed and retreated to the safety of the swings, but Lily stayed right where she was.

"What's obvious?" Lily asked, frowning at the boy. Petunia vaguely recognized him, that-that odd boy with that odd family in that odd part of the village. Snipe, perhaps was his surname- no, Snape. An odd name for an odd boy. The boy flushed, having the decency to look embarrassed from having spying on them. "I know what you are." he spoke in a lower tone, as though not wanting anybody to hear their conversation. Petunia scowled. Strange or no, _nobody_ messed with her sister.

Lily looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Snape flushed even more, evidently excited. Petunia had to lean in to hear his next words, and even then, it was difficult.

"You're... you're a witch."


	3. Chapter Two: A Whole New World

Chapter Two: A Whole New World

At first, Lily thought the Snape boy was mad. Not to mention rude. She left with Petunia in a huff, and allowed Tuney to comfort her, telling her that Snape was bonkers, and not to worry about it. But when she went off to bed, the doubt began to creep in. What if I really am a witch? It didn't seem impossible. She had done some very peculiar things, things that had raised eyebrows, and caused whispers to break out. And the Snape boy… Aside from the fact that he was clearly mad, Lily had heard such conviction in his voice, as he labeled her. He said it wasn't a bad thing, too. Could it be possible? She glanced at her lightly snoring sister. She had to find out. Perhaps, with a little deception, she could find out the truth, and assure her sister that everything was just fine. Comforted, she rolled over and fell asleep.

As it turned out, sneaking around her observant sister proved difficult. Lily finally managed to escape her protective sister's watch, and darted off to the park. Still panting slightly, she looked around, looking for that… boy. After five minutes of fruitless search, she turned to go home, defeated.

"I knew you'd come back."

Heart racing, she whipped around. There he stood, in all his stooped glory, vaguely reminding her of a bat. He gave her a crooked smile, which, while doing nothing to help his sallow complexion, did make him seem more normal. She swallowed down her doubt. He was watching her closely, searching for a reaction. She struggled to speak. "You- you called me a-a witch." he nodded slowly. "So what does that make you?" If possible, that made him smile wider.

"I'm a wizard." He sounded so sure, so confident in where he stood, Lily was almost jealous. His next words took her by surprise. "I-I'm sorry if I offended you the other day. I don't get to meet a lot of mud-," he cleared his throat. "That is to say, muggleborns." He noticed her bewildered expression. "Someone with non-magical parents."

Lily frowned. "You mean your parents are… erm… magical?" His face hardened, and she regretted the question at once.

"One," he admitted reluctantly, "My mum's a witch. My father is a… muggle." He said the word with disdain.

"Is there anything wrong with being a muggle?" Lily asked defensively. Snape flinched.

"No, but…," he hesitated, not knowing what to say. "They're just… muggles." Lily looked appalled, and he wondered what he'd done wrong. "I mean… they're always awful blokes; and not smart enough to see two feet in front of the." He knew at once that he had said the wrong thing. She gave him a withering look and turned to leave. "No, wait!" he grabbed her arm. "I'm sorry. I don't know a lot of muggles. Just my father, really, and he hates me."

Lily froze, turning slowly to look at him. "Why?"

Snape gave a noncommittal shrug. "He hates magic." Lily was oddly reminded of her sister. "Er, you're Lily, right?"

She nodded. "I'm afraid I don't know your name." she flushed, slightly embarrassed.

"Severus," he informed her.

"Severus," she repeated. The two children smiled at each other. It wasn't the best start to any relationship, but it was a start.

Over the next week, Lily managed to meet Severus almost every day, and he told her about Hogwarts, Diagon Alley- anything she asked. Petunia grew increasingly suspicious of her sister, and was frustrated that she couldn't figure out where her sister went nearly every day. On the sixth day, Tuney made up her mind to follow her sister.

"Mum, I'm gonna go to the park with some friends," Lily called, grabbing her coat. Petunia looked up from her book.

"D'you want me to go with you?" She tried to make her voice casual, and was failing utterly. Lily's cheeks colored, as did the tip of her nose.

"I'm afraid it'll be dead boring; we were just gonna do some school work. Maybe some other time?" Petunia did not miss the subtle message telling her to shove off.

"Fine," she snapped. "Have fun." she stormed away, leaving a very confused and slightly hurt Lily in her wake. Yet, her curiosity was too much to bear. After a bit, she grabbed her coat, and made the short walk to the park.

Try as she might, she couldn't find where her sister was. She walked the expanse of the park, and had begun to skirt along the edges of the woods, when she heard voices- one cheerful and upbeat, and the other, scratchy and almost somber. She crouched behind the tree, and on her hands and knees, inched closer. From her vantage point she could make out a girl with flaming red hair, and a boy with mismatched, oddly colored clothing.

"Really?" Lily asked, and Petunia could see the excitement shining in her eyes. "There's a school?" Tuney nearly tripped. A school? For freaks like Snape and confused kids like her sister? The boy nodded, looking smug.

"Yes, and they teach you how to use your magic- charms and regular spells, but also potions and herbology- oh yes, and flying." Severus said this with an air of cool indifference, and fortunately for Petunia, both she and her sister gasped at the same time.

"Flying?" Lily's voice was wistful, and Petunia gritted her teeth. She would have thought it impossible, but then she thought back to Lily's tricks. Those certainly should have been impossible. But her little sister did performed them, on purpose or not, as though second nature. Surely it was genetics? Or-Petunia's mouth went dry. A mutation. Yet, of all the genetic mutations she had ever heard of, flying and making flowers grow wherever you walked seemed rather lovely to her. She glared at the back of her sister's head, almost envying Lily's freakishness.

Having heard enough, she rose quietly, turned on her heel, and marched off, fuming.

Hours later, Lily came home, elated. She ran up to their room, nearly skipping. There she found her sister, lying on her bed, and pretending to be in the deepest of slumbers. "Tuney!" She shook Petunia's arm, jumping up and down. "Tuney, guess what?" Petunia rolled over and opened her eyes dull gray ones meeting bright green ones.

"What?" Petunia snapped. "I was taking a nap. Leave me alone." Lily's enthusiasm for just a second.

"But Tuney, you'll never believe it!"

"I'm sure I will," Petunia breathed, staring at the ceiling. Fortunately for her, her sister was too excited to notice the jab.

"Tuney, there's a school. For people like me and Severus. Special people. It's called Hogwarts." Lily flopped on her sister's bed looking so dreamy and wistful, Petunia almost pitied her. Poor thing. Someone had to break the reality to her in the gentlest possible way.

"Lily," Petunia's voice was warm, sweet, almost condescending. She took her sister's hand into her own, petting it as one would do with a bunny. Lily looked at her, wary. "Lily, you know he's lying to you, of course. Hogwarts doesn't exist. And you're not special, or that Snape boy. The whole lot of you are just freaks."

Lily's face twisted in a look of initial hurt, then transformed into a dark scowl. She yanked her hand of Petunia's grasp. "That's not a very nice thing to say, Tuney. I suppose you're just jealous." Her sister gaped at her.

"What on earth would I be jealous of you for?" Petunia said, agog. "Your freaky plant powers and Snape's attention?" Lily flushed with rage.

"You can't stop me from talking to him. It's perfectly normal, he said. They have broomsticks, for proper flying, and potions for nearly everything, and lots of-,"

"I DON'T BLOODY CARE!" The words from Petunia mouth shocked her almost as much as her little sister. Lily threw Petunia a hurt look, burst into tears, then raced out of the room, slamming the door behind her. She did not return for a very long time, and Petunia made no effort to go repair the damage that she had caused.

But while she lay there, drifting off into an uneasy sleep, she grudgingly wondered about this Hogwarts and all that this magical world had to offer.


	4. Chapter Three: Spring and Sprout

Chapter 3: Spring and Sprout

So began a sick sort of obsession for Petunia Evans- she took to following her little sister to the park, and, feeling very sly and clever with herself, listening to the habitual conversations between Lily and Severus Snape. It was a practice that walked a fine line between absolutely loathing herself for doing it, and, at the same time, desperate to learn more about this wonderfully romantic world of adventure, magic, and mystery.

Late winter turned into spring, and normal flowers began to bloom, although Lily's wildflowers had progressed into large flower beds wherever she went. Try as though she might, Petunia, for the life of her could, was unable to have even a weed sprout up in her wake. As for her mother and father, Petunia personally believed that the both of them had gotten soft in old age at a staggering 42, and 46, respectively. She had never seen any other grown up so excited and enthralled at childish tricks, and, to her absolute horror, watched as they not only did not admonish Lily from her freak skills, but encouraged it with a childlike wonder and glee.

Lily flourished in her refined skills, and now, had moved from flora onto fauna. She took to keeping small critters in her beds, whispering to them, training them to her liking, and had managed to have several doves to swoop in through the school house rafters, and land spectacularly in front of her and her silly friends, and promptly became the celebrity of the classroom.

So Petunia fumed and sulked and snarled at any poor classmate who was foolish enough to question her about her sister, while entirely and completely not being envious in any way shape or form of her baby sister. Petunia did not get jealous, and she certainly did not get jealous of her mental sister that had flowers follow her.

By May, Petunia had given up even bothering to be sly about eavesdropping, although she suspected Lily didn't mind. She waited for a bit after Lily skipped out the door, then crammed shoes on her feet and rushed out the door to follow her. She had timed it just so that the flower trail had begun to sink back down into the claylike soil. It was a lovely day; the sun warming the ground, and a gentle breeze rippled through the lush grass.

She found her sister and companion at their usual meeting spot, by the river, and scuttled behind the tree.

"How are things at your house?" She heard Lily's voice first.

A pause. "Fine." Snape's voice certainly didn't seem 'fine', but Petunia doubted Lily would pick up on that.

Her sister tried again. "They're not arguing anymore?" Petunia shifted ever so slightly, crunching some leaves.

"Oh yes, they're arguing," Snape said dismissively. "But it won't be that long, and I'll be gone." Suddenly, Petunia felt uncomfortable, intrusive. Just as quickly, she shrugged the feeling off.

"-Like anything, much," she caught the end of Snape's reply to something Lily had said.

"Severus?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell me about the dementors again." Petunia felt the tension drop like a ball, and almost taste the boy's relief. _What were d-dementors?_

"What d'you want to know about them for?"

"If I use magic outside school-" Lily's panic and worry was palpable.

"They wouldn't give you to dementors for that! Dementors are for people who do really bad stuff," Petunia couldn't help but imagine a magical police running around with flowers trailing after him, like Lily, and forced down a chuckle. "-Guard the wizard prison, Azkaban. You're not going to end up in Azkaban, you're too-," Snape stopped abruptly, and this time Petunia could not help but snicker. That oddball fancied her sister. How perfectly pathetic.

She stepped backwards, having heard enough. Her foot caught on the root, and she tripped into view of her sister and friend.

"Tuney!" Lily beamed, but her companion glared at Petunia with such a hatred, she wondered what on earth she could have done wrong.

"Who's spying now?" Snape yelled, "What d'you want?" Petunia froze, a deer in the headlights, and glanced around for a proper rebuttal. Her eyes latched onto his… His… Was that a shirt?

"What is that you're wearing anyway," she gestured to the odd smock like thing. "Your mum's blouse?" It was a low blow, even for her.

 _Crack._ A tree limb hurtled towards her, and caught on her shoulder, catching her by surprise. The pain and shock made her stumble backwards, and, embarrassed, she burst into tears and ran away from the both of the freaks. Only freaks could do that. Cause people pain and humiliation. She was halfway back to the house when Lily caught up to her.

"Tuney!" She didn't bother turning around, now furious at her sister. "Tuney!" Lily caught her arm.

"Leave me alone," Her older sister snapped. "Go run back to your stupid little boyfriend to- to _Hogwarts_ , why don't you?" Lily took the jab in stride, and remained latched onto Tuney's wrist.

"Tuney, I'm so sorry, Severus just got upset, and it was wrong, and I'm so sorry-," she took a deep breath, "I told him that it was horrible of him to do that, and I think he feels sorry now, I really do, he's a lovely boy, really, just shy is all…" She rambled on.

"Whatever," Petunia muttered, no longer mad.

"Is your shoulder all right?"

"I can feel a bruise forming…" And just like that, sisters were friends once more, as they headed back into their house, laughing about the visual impression of the _dementors_ Petunia had had.

Their mother stepped out of the kitchen. "Girls, we have a guest." Something was up; their mum's face had never looked so pale.

"Mummy-?" Lily gasped as a woman, short and round stepped out. She had the look of someone who had just wrestled one too many weeds in a garden, grubby and covered in dirt. She had a grandmotherly, pleasant feeling about her, but the air of someone who was just the tiniest bit mad. But all of this was extraordinarily normal compared to the mahogany stick tucked behind her ear, surrounded by a cloud of graying brown hair, occasionally emitting yellow and black sparks.

Mrs. Evans took a deep breath. "Lily, Petunia, this is Pomona Sprout. She's a- a teacher at the Hogwarts School of- ah- Witchcraft and Wizardry. It appears we have a-a witch in the family."

Pomona Sprout smiled genially. "So lovely to meet you, dears. Can I steal Lily away for a chat? You are welcome to join, of course, Petunia."

She brandished a fat envelope bearing a red seal, and emerald ink announcing _Miss Lily Evans, Shared Bedroom, Spinner's End_. "We have a lot to talk about."


End file.
